29 physician specialties ranked by 2022 burnout rates

Last year, 53 percent of physicians reported burnout. Among them, emergency medicine specialists had the highest rate at 65 percent, according to Medscape's latest report on physician burnout and depression. 

Across the board, physician burnout has jumped 11 percentage points from 2018, when 42 percent of physicians said they were burned out. The "Medscape Physician Burnout & Depression Report 2023: 'I Cry and No One Cares'" is based on survey responses from more than 9,100 physicians across 29 specialties, which were collected between June and October 2022. At least one third of respondents in all specialties said they were burned out. 

Here's how each specialty stacked up: 

Note: This list includes ties

1. Emergency medicine — 65 percent of physicians reported burnout

2. Internal medicine — 60 percent

3. Pediatrics — 59 percent

4. Obstetrics and gynecology — 58 percent

Infectious diseases — 58 percent

5. Family medicine — 57 percent

6. Neurology — 55 percent
Critical care — 55 percent
Anesthesiology — 55 percent

7. Pulmonary medicine — 54 percent
Radiology — 54 percent

8. Oncology — 52 percent
Gastroenterology — 52 percent

9. General surgery — 51 percent
Diabetes and endocrinology — 51 percent

10. Rheumatology — 50 percent

11. Otolaryngology — 49 percent
Allergy and immunology — 49 percent
Dermatology — 49 percent

12. Ophthalmology — 48 percent

13. Physical medicine and rehabilitation — 47 percent
Psychiatry — 47 percent
Urology — 47 percent

14. Plastic surgery — 46 percent

15. Orthopedics — 45 percent

16. Nephrology — 44 percent

17. Cardiology — 43 percent

18. Pathology — 39 percent

19. Public health and preventive medicine — 37 percent

Click here for more findings from the 2023 report. 

See how burnout rates by specialty compare to 2021 responses here

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